Following legal action against the Good As Hell singer, fans at Beyonce’s Boston, Massachusetts, event observed Lizzo’s name appeared to have been removed from Break My Soul.
According to court records obtained by numerous US sites, Lizzo is facing allegations of a hostile work environment and sexual harassment.
The three former dancers claimed the 35-year-old forced one of them to touch a naked performer at an Amsterdam bar and ‘drew attention’ to a performer’s weight increase.
Fans were taken aback by the claims, since the Juice singer is known for utilising her platform to promote body acceptance and to inspire women and underprivileged groups.
Lizzo, actual name Melissa Viviane Jefferson, sobbed as she saw her name in lights on the stage during the 41-year-old’s Warsaw, Poland, performance.
Fans saw the Love On Top singer skipping over her reference of ‘Lizzo’ at the most recent Rennaissance Tour event.
Beyonce mentions Jefferson as one of the amazing black women pushing boundaries during the tour in the Queens remix of Break My Soul.
The lyric usually goes: ‘Betty Davis, Solange Knowles / [Erykah] Badu, Lizzo, Kelly Rowl’ (You know you can do it)’
Following the publicising of the legal case against Jefferson, concert footage showed Beyoncé singing ‘Badu’ four times instead of ‘Lizzo’, although her name still flashed on screen in one clip.
Beyoncé remained silent about the incident, continuing with her performance as usual following the lyric switch.
The Yitty founder’s production firm, Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc., and her dancing captain, Shirlene Quigley, were also listed as defendants in the action, although not every allegation was linked to all three.
Beyoncé seemingly skips over Lizzo’s name during the Queens Remix performance of ‘Break My Soul’ tonight at the Renaissance World Tour.
She instead repeats Erykah Badu’s name four times.
— Pop Base (@PopBase) August 2, 2023
NBC News reported that Arianna Davis and Crystal Williams were hired after competing on Jefferson’s reality show, Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, in 2021, but were both fired.
Noella Rodriguez was hired the same year but left in 2023.
According to the paperwork, the Special singer booked a trip to a strip club in Amsterdam earlier this year that was not required, but guests were reported to be ‘favoured’ by the singer.
It is claimed that she ‘began inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers, catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas’.
— BEYHIVE (@acervobeyhive) August 2, 2023
She then is said to have started ‘pressuring Ms Davis to touch the breasts of one of the nude women’.
When Davis declined, Jefferson allegedly led a chant and goaded her, after which a ‘visibly uncomfortable Ms Davis [engaged] with the performer’.
Davis claimed she was questioned about her weight increase and asked if she was ‘less devoted’ to her job during a SXSW visit.
Due to the background of dancers being advised they are “becoming lazy” if they acquire weight, legal documents described the interaction as a “thinly disguised” reference to her weight.
These reports are in addition to Jefferson employing a slur, ‘excruciating’ auditions to maintain their jobs, and Williams supposedly losing her job publicly as a result of budget cuts.
The amount of damages sought by the dancers is unknown, but the list of complaints is lengthy.
For the accusations of sexual, religious, and racial harassment, handicap discrimination, and wrongful detention, damages are being sought for emotional anguish, unpaid pay, lost earnings, and attorney’s costs.
Jefferson has yet to respond to the allegations.
